‘They’re rampaging in our waterways’: Tourism Minister Stuart Nash is aiming at freedom campers instead of encouraging focus on attracting high-spending visitors. Video / Guy Williams / ODT
New Zealand Head of Tourism Stephen England-Hall said his country must be careful not to incorporate all liberty tents.
He has a new job as head of the Queenstown group’s Wayfare tourism business in February and said among the 12,000 who camped, there was a different group.
“We have to be very careful not to put this all together and call it a problem. What matters is when people behave badly.”
This can include defecating in the wilderness, parking or staying in the wrong place.
“That’s not to say that all visitors who choose this type of trip are all bad.”
Some could be a wealthy family who spent two weeks staying in a luxury inn and then had the freedom of two nights camping somewhere to experience nature.
He said the freedom to camp in non-independent vehicles would be banned as part of efforts to market New Zealand to very wealthy overseas tourists.
England-Hall said while free camping – including 80,000 Kiwis – could be a problem, backpackers would be a valuable part of the tourism economy when they could return.
“Backpackers are not the same as casual camping who provide labor in the primary and hospitality industries and they spend everything they earn – they tend to travel quite extensively. They tend to be more mobile over the next few years and last a long time.
“They are often labeled the same term as camping freedom – they are very different,” says England-Hall.
Backpackers are also big supporters of the country when they return home.
England-Hall warned that New Zealand would face an uphill battle to attract overseas visitors when travel restrictions and border closings are relaxed.
New Zealand has had to fight hard to be relevant and it’s not a definite conclusion that tourists will return.
“The halo effect around New Zealand’s good record so far around Covid could dissipate quickly. Nobody will care how well you manage the virus as the world continues to develop – there is some work to be done to ensure that New Zealand remains a major concern., ” she says.
“Nobody would thank Tourism NZ if we weren’t ready – we had to be ready to drive demand and partner with industry and airlines to get people on planes.”
Tourism NZ had a budget of about $ 111 million a year to promote New Zealand overseas before Covid-19 but has shifted to domestic campaigns. But abroad it is not yet “dark”.
“You are just as good as your last campaign and at the moment we have a real halo of brands around New Zealand.”
Chief executive of Tourism New Zealand Stephen England-Hall. Photo / Nick Reed
The first stage of visitors is very likely to visit friends and relatives who didn’t come on holidays, England-Hall said.
The second wave will be the business or investor groups.
“The challenge is that historically they didn’t spend a lot of money per day as visitors to our holidays.”
Although these visitors will help the health and well-being of the population, the economic impact is not too big.
“As that starts to shift to more recreational travel, we want to make sure that the mix on the plane leans more towards high value, culture and environment awareness.
To that end, New Zealand must have sales channel marketing activities that build relationships on the ground in other countries.
The latest results show domestic tourism in October rose 24 percent in October. Kiwis on the go cost $ 1.8 billion, up $ 351 million from a year ago.
England-Hall said while domestic spending was encouraging, there was still a $ 12 billion hole in tourism revenue due to the absence of international visitors.
“The fact that October is defending so well is a good signal but as we head into a summer where our international visitors will be dominant, it won’t be a problem this year.”
He said people want to have experiences and build memories with family and friends.
February and March can be gentler as it is the height of the international tourist season.
“What’s exciting is the Kiwis are really exploring New Zealand. In the past it might have taken it for granted, but it’s a very important part of the tourism economy and the reason so many people choose New Zealand for their once-in-a-lifetime trips. We don’t really appreciate it. “
Next week we will be in Pennsylvania to visit our daughter who is at school in Erie on Lake Erie This will be one of our most unique trips as face masks are needed for almost the entire trip . Traveling is just not what it used to be. Do you remember when people smoked cigarettes in the middle of the flight? A little light came on to tell the passengers it was time to put out their cigarettes, we were going to land. Smokers who flew on the plane at the time were very upset when new rules banned smoking on board. I have a feeling these same people would be really unhappy with the requirement to wear a mask for the entire flight We received an email reminding us that anyone over 2 years old must also wear a mask at airports except when we were We were also told that we would receive an “ all-in-one ” snack bag that included a wrapped disinfectant wipe, an 8.5 ounce water bottle and two snacks, as well as a sealed drink on flights over 2 hours and 20 minutes. “On flights shorter than that, we’ll have a sealed drink and that’s it. No more friendly flight attendant taking our drink order. Erie is quite close to Niagara Falls. We were wondering if we could see it or not, as people like to go to the Canadian side for a better view, and the border between the US and Canada is closed at least until the end of August. which is the boat that takes you near the falls, was closed in June, it is now open on the US side and available for people in good health, wearing masks and willing to stand at least 6 feet from other people on a small boat .Fort Niagara opened in July and is available for healthy masked visitors, which is the same for all the restaurants we stop at. There won’t be any buffets though, and it looks like food “that requires minimal preparation” will be the rule. Fortunately, Pennsylvania is not on the list of states that require a 14-day quarantine when we arrive home. We were also assured that the plane is cleaned within an inch of its life and that airports will be cleaner than our homes. Still, we have small containers of disinfectant to use liberally when we feel too far away from a sink and soap, and we’ll avoid other people like the plague. our face, and white where the mask was. It’s a strange time to travel. .
Springfield, mA (WGGB/WSHM) — the heat and humidity will continue today with another Scorcher expected! This is the warmest morning of the summer so far with temperatures ranging from 70-ies, and we will be back in the ‘ 90s times in the day with heat indices between 97-103 degrees.
Warm Tips remain in effect for the Central and Eastern parts of Hampden, Hampshire and Franklin County until 8 PM. In addition to the Air Quality to unhealthy levels of ground-level ozone remain in force for all in the County of Hampden and Central and East Hampshire County until 11 PM tonight.
We may see a few showers this morning, then a weak front will bring in this day an isolated shower or thunderstorm, but most will stay dry during the day. Best chance to see the storm will be Springfield and points East as the front will be a bit more active in Eastern Massachusetts that day.
The front will bring a little relief tomorrow. It will be a little less humid, but still warm tomorrow with highs in the upper 80’s to nearly 90. There is a chance for showers and thunderstorms Wednesday and Thursday with highs in the mid to upper 80’s. Drier air should move in the end of the week to go to next weekend.
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